 Bakery Bar co-owner Jocelyn Barda IMAGE: JENNA BIGGS |
With a case full of exquisite-looking housemade cakes and pastries, a lunch menu that's both faster and cheaper than clarklewis across the street, and Stumptown coffee on offer, Bakery Bar is something of an oasis for the designers, consultants and other folk who occupy Malsin's industrial-chic buildings. The baked goodies are courtesy of Barda, a graduate of Western Culinary Institute's pastry program. New in November, the space still has that just-open sparkle, with neat rows of matching glassware stacked behind the counter and an alarmingly tidy open kitchen. Its muted wall colors, cement floors and high, exposed-beam ceilings mirror the neighborhood's emerging aesthetic. Uncharacteristically helpful counter people, rotating art exhibits and—duh—the lovingly-fashioned pastries, from five-spice carrot cake cupcakes ($2.25) to a scone with fennel and golden raisins ($2.25), draw regulars, few of whom can resist Barda's pecan sandies (50 cents a piece). The food is well above standard coffeehouse fare, including fresh deli sandwiches and soups with fun, housemade cheese crackers (all under $6.25).
1028 SE Water Ave., 546-8110. 7:30 am-6 pm Monday-Friday, 8 am-6 pm Saturday, closed Sunday. $ Inexpensive.
